Traveling with kids abroad often means paying for two hotel rooms … but Hyatt has a little-known discount that can knock up to half off the second room. Also today: US Bank’s transfer partners finally show up (with a catch), and Amex’s Resy credit is about to get a lot more useful.
- 👨👩👧👦 Traveling With Kids? Hyatt Has a Secret 50% Discount
- 🤝 Deal of the Day: The Best Int’l Travel Adapter Goes Back on Sale!
- 📖 Gettin’ Booksy: Adrian is Going Back to Scandinavia
- 🔄 US Bank Finally Delivers on Transfer Partners … For One Card
- 🎙️ On the Pod: Live From Fargo! Travel Tips from Small Airports
- 🍽️ Your Amex Card’s Resy Credit is About to Get a Tasty Upgrade
- ✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
👨👩👧👦 Traveling With Kids? Hyatt Has a Secret 50% Discount
Traveling with kids usually means booking two hotel rooms, since many properties (especially abroad) cap occupancy at two guests. That second room adds up fast. Hyatt has a fix for this … and almost nobody knows it exists.
It’s called the Family Plan Rate. It’s not listed on Hyatt’s website or app, but ask for it the right way, and you can knock 10% to 50% off a second room when you’re traveling with kids under 18.
I’ve used this myself. Don’t expect a connecting room (mine wasn’t), but it was right next door, which was close enough to keep an eye on the kids without everyone stacked in one room.
Here’s the catch: you can’t book it online. Call Hyatt reservations at 1-800-544-9288 (or the hotel directly) and ask specifically for the “Family Plan Rate.”
You can also message @HyattConcierge on X to get it set up if you’re a millennial like me and would prefer not to pick up the phone.
A few things worth knowing before you call:
- You need to be a World of Hyatt member to qualify – it’s free to create an account.
- The second room is usually near your main room; connecting rooms are not guaranteed.
- Your main room can be booked with points, but the discounted second room has to be paid in cash.
- Not every property offers it, so have a backup hotel in mind and confirm age limits and availability first.
No other major hotel chain offers a discount like this. And once you run the numbers, two Hyatt rooms at this rate can sometimes be cheaper than an Airbnb – without giving up daily housekeeping or a front desk if something goes wrong.
It’s a notable benefit, and one worth keeping in your travel toolbelt before you book your next family vacation.
– Nick Serati, Thrifty Traveler co-founder
🤝 Deal of the Day: The Best Int’l Travel Adapter Goes Back on Sale!
Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥🔥
Why we love it: The sleek, compact Anker Nano Travel Adapter – maybe our favorite travel gadget, period – just went on sale for $19.99 this week.
Other adapters can be heavy and chunky, but the Nano bucks that trend while still charging up to 5 devices at once. It works in more than 200 countries, too.
Buy the Anker Nano Travel Adapter for $19.99 on Amazon!
– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst
📖 Gettin’ Booksy: Adrian is Going Back to Scandinavia
Welcome to Gettin’ Booksy, a celebration of our favorite feeling: Booking something awesome! Book something lately and want to be featured in the Extra Mile? Let us know at [email protected]!
What Did Adrian Book?
Adrian jumped on our latest Thrifty Traveler Premium deal flying to Stockholm, Sweden (ARN) under $492 roundtrip … almost exactly a year after he booked a nearly identical deal to Oslo (OSL)!
How’d Adrian Book It?
Adrian booked Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) to fly to Stockholm – the same airline he booked last year.
What Makes It So Awesome?
Last year, Adrian booked the deal for May, but this time, he’s looking for a more wintry adventure. His plan is to head north of the Arctic Circle in March for an almost guaranteed shot at seeing the Northern Lights.
From Adrian:
Being from Wisconsin, visiting Scandinavia just felt like coming home, and I can’t wait to build another adventure traveling in the beautiful Nordic region, all thanks to you folks. Sincerely, a Premium+ subscriber for life!
Back-to-back years heading to Scandinavia, thanks to Thrifty Traveler Premium flight deal alerts, is quite the run, Adrian! As you noted in your email … Finland might have to be 2028!
– Gunnar Olson, flight deal analyst and travel reporter
🔄 US Bank Finally Delivers on Transfer Partners … For One Card
US Bank has been teasing adding transfer partners for the better part of a year now, and according to reporting from Frequent Miler, they finally arrived on Tuesday … with a catch.
After the bank promised that transfer partners would be coming in December 2025, and then slowly removing any and all mentions of the program when that date came and went, the bank has quietly added transfer partners … but only if you hold the US Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card – which is no longer open for new applications.
But if you have an Altitude Reserve, you can now transfer your points into four different programs. Three of them will transfer on a 1:1 basis – meaning 1 US Bank Altitude point will equal 1 airline mile.
Here’s a look at what’s possible:
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue: 1:1
- Qantas Frequent Flyer: 1:1
- Ethiopian Sheba Rewards: 1:1
- ALL Accor: 2:1
I won’t pretend that’s a stacked lineup. It’s one airline from each major alliance and a single hotel option. That’s nowhere near what you’d get with Amex, Chase, Capital One, Bilt, Citi, and more. But it’s a real, working transfer program where there wasn’t one before.
And as Frequent Miler points out, US Bank is now the only bank that transfers to Ethiopian Sheba Rewards. No other major bank currency partners with them at all, and that exclusivity alone makes their program worth a look if you’ve got an Altitude Reserve card with a big stash of points.
It doesn’t look like any other US Bank cards that earn Altitude points have access to transfer partners, so this is Altitude Reserve or nothing (for now).
It’s an interesting development because the Altitude Reserve hasn’t accepted new applicants since November 2024.
That raises an obvious question: why build a transfer program for a card nobody can sign up for anymore?
My guess is that it’s not really for the current cardholder base at all – it’s US Bank quietly setting the stage for the Altitude Reserve to make a comeback.
But right now, that’s just speculation. We will have to wait and see how this all plays out.
Read Frequent Miler’s full story here
– Nick Serati, Thrifty Traveler co-founder
🎙️ On the Pod: Live From Fargo! Travel Tips from Small Airports
🛩️ The guys took the show on the road: Coming to you live from TEDxFargo in North Dakota in late July, Gunnar and Kyle devoted an episode of the show to smaller airports.
Tune in now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!
🍽️ Your Amex Card’s Resy Credit is About to Get a Tasty Upgrade
Amex’s Resy dining credit on cards like the *amex platinum*, *amex gold*, and a pair of Delta SkyMiles Cards just got a lot more interesting.
After acquiring reservation platform Tock in a $400 million deal earlier this year, Resy now offers more than 25,000 restaurants, wineries, and dining experiences with the two reservation platforms combined. Tock is best known for holy-grail tables like The French Laundry in Napa Valley, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, and Smyth in Chicago, plus nearly 1,200 wineries like Ridge Vineyards and Heitz Cellar.
“Our goal is simple: bring the best in hospitality together on Resy, where they’re discovered by our discerning diners and American Express Card Members,” said Pablo Rivero, CEO of Resy and SVP of American Express Global Dining.
Here’s the part that matters for travelers: Amex confirmed select U.S. Tock venues will become eligible for the Resy Credit starting Sept. 15. That’s the statement credit worth up to $100 per quarter (up to $400 a year) on the Platinum Card, up to $50 every six months (up to $100 annually) on the Gold Card, and smaller amounts (dished out monthly) on the Delta SkyMiles cards.
But you can’t just assume every newly added Tock spot qualifies. Resy recently added a badge on eligible restaurant pages to flag which ones actually trigger the credit, and Amex says more Tock restaurants will get added to that eligible list in the weeks and months ahead.
So be sure to look for something like this before you pull out your Resy eligible Amex Card to foot the bill.
This is all genuinely good news for Amex cardholders looking for more (new) places to burn their recurring dining credits. While Tock no doubt skews higher-end, the addition of wineries and other venues, not immediately thought of as restaurants should make them more accessible for many.
Just remember to check for that badge before you count on using your credit to cover dinner at your favorite tasting-menu spot. Come Sept. 15, you’ll have a lot more … let’s just call them tastier … ways to use it.
Related: How to Use the Resy Credit on Your Amex Card
– Jackson Newman, senior editor
✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
- 📈 Airfare jumped 25.5% year-over-year in July, according to the latest Consumer Price Index. That’s up sharply from a 2.2% monthly increase in July alone, even as overall inflation cooled to 3.4% annually. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- 🕹️ United is opening bidding Aug. 14 for a rare flight simulator experience, exclusive to United cardholders. The Oct. 22 event in Denver includes round-trip airfare, a hotel stay, and two hours each in a Boeing and Airbus simulator, with bidding starting at 100,000 miles and closing Aug. 28. (United)
- 🇨🇦 Chase is offering a new 20% transfer bonus to Air Canada Aeroplan through Sept. 30. It’s a solid way to stretch Ultimate Rewards points further on Star Alliance business class awards.
- 🇦🇪 Emirates is offering unlimited free date changes on flights to Dubai, plus lower refund fees, as it works to ease booking hesitancy tied to concerns about travel to the Middle East. (Points Miles and Bling)
